Woo, John (1946– )

Chinese director and film-maker known for his violent action films. Working in Hong Kong from 1969, he directed a variety of gangster and kung-fu films including Ying huang boon sik/A Better Tomorrow (1986) and Lashou shentan/Hard Boiled (1992). Woo then moved to Hollywood and directed several Hollywood blockbusters, including Broken Arrow (1996), Face/Off (1997), Mission: Impossible 2 (2000), Windtalkers (2002), and Paycheck (2003).

Woo was born in Guangzhou, China, and his family moved to Hong Kong when he was a child. He directed his first film, Tie han rou qing/Young Dragons, in 1975. Since then he has directed a wide variety of films, from comedies to thrillers, in both his native country and in the USA.